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Topic: Chopin Prelude in C minor  (Read 1784 times)

Offline chopinrules2005

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Chopin Prelude in C minor
on: September 08, 2004, 02:18:23 PM
I don't know if there is anyone who can tell me this: how do sounds (different frequencies essentially) have psychological effects on people?

I think that the fifth measure depicts the utmost despair... I think it's amazing how he does that. It makes me sad to listen to it.

As opposed to the theoretical reasons does anyone know why sounds can make us feel a certain way?
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Offline donjuan

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Re: Chopin Prelude in C minor
Reply #1 on: September 09, 2004, 04:58:18 AM
I dont know, they just do.  Ask Bach, Im sure he knows!

It all depends on the key the music is written in.  I find, music written in E major to be very touching and wistful, whereas Eb major is silly and content sounding.
For me, the diminished chord is terror and the augmented chord is desperate, sobbing-like.

hey, I just realized this is my 1300th post.  :D
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Offline bernhard

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Re: Chopin Prelude in C minor
Reply #2 on: September 10, 2004, 02:18:38 AM

Quote

I don't know if there is anyone who can tell me this: how do sounds (different frequencies essentially) have psychological effects on people?

I think that the fifth measure depicts the utmost despair... I think it's amazing how he does that. It makes me sad to listen to it.  

As opposed to the theoretical reasons does anyone know why sounds can make us feel a certain way?


Yes, I could. But the subject is to vast. Start with Helmholtz: “On the sensation of tones” (Dover).  and Robert L. Jacobs "Understanding Harmony" (OUP) This, of course is just the tip of the iceberg.

And by the way, it is all theoretical. “Sound is vibration” is a theory. “Vibrations have effects” is another theory. That sounds makes us feel a certain way is also a theory. And how sound goes about it is also a theory. Humans never have true knowledge. All they have is transitory theories and their subjective (and often incomplete) understanding of them. ;)

Best wishes,
Bernhard.
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The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side. (Hunter Thompson)

Offline mound

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Re: Chopin Prelude in C minor
Reply #3 on: September 20, 2004, 06:08:28 PM
Hello, this is my first post, been reading these forums for weeks now.

I found this a brilliant read, in fact I think it's time I read it once again, it's that deep.

The Mysticism of Sound and Music

Quote
Bernhard wrote:And by the way, it is all theoretical. “Sound is vibration” is a theory.


This book goes to that theory.

-Paul
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A previously unknown manuscript by Frédéric Chopin has been discovered at New York’s Morgan Library and Museum. The handwritten score is titled “Valse” and consists of 24 bars of music in the key of A minor and is considered a major discovery in the wold of classical piano music. Read more
 

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